On Thu, 2011-05-05 at 15:41 -0400, Michael Brown wrote: > I'd like to chime in on this one. Im new to the group. But not new to Linux. > Ive got 10 years experience with Linux. For the most part Everything Ive > learned about Linux has been through books, magazine articles, > documentation, and trial and error. There was one friend that I could call > on the phone and talk to about it. But my circumstances were a bit different > from the rest of the group. So I don't expect people to understand what it > was like to be the only one using Linux and cut off from the rest of the > Linux world without being able to get help. If this confuses people - you > can talk to me privately about it and I will explain.
Your experience is not so unique. Back when I first got into Linux, I had one friend as well. They had installed it once before but we did my first install together, years after they had last touched Linux. I was always around people who were familiar with it, and touched it at times, as well as Unix. But never many that were very proficient with Linux. Most I interacted with regarding Linux were online and remote. I quickly surpassed my buddy, who kept calling me for years. Eventually he went the gaming route and ended up back on Windows. After getting me sucked into Never Winter Nights on Linux, and almost into Second Life. Though I did get my occasional FPS on with Urban Terror, old school :) Games are just bad for me. Even when messing with NWN I ended up hacking on NWNX, tying that into a Firebird database, making my own world etc. Still have the code and such, and others finished off some of the storing and retrieving binary blob data via asm redirection and stuff. > For the most part, Im a hobbiest with a massive wish that I could go > Professional. Those tend to make the best professionals, and its why hobbyists should not be looked down on IMHO. If anything professionals should want to associate with them for mentoring aspects. Or to be around others going down a similar path, with similar interests, passions, etc. > It is a dream I have had for many years. I also realize that > may never happen. Keep pursuing your dreams at all cost, and they just might happen at some point. If not at least you know you gave it your all, and that will keep you from looking back most times. > But I love to learn. I would love to be able to get with > somebody that knows SELinux and go through all of the insides. I would love > to learn Java. I would love to sit and listen to presentations about > Professional level subjects that I could learn from and grow with. I have a > secret wish to build a cluster in my closet. At this point I have no idea > what I would do with the thing. But I would love to build it and run it for > fun. I also have a dream of getting LPI certifications. That would make me > really proud. Lots of things you can do today to start learning those things on your own. Sometimes its good to do things without intention, and you might find uses along the way. If not at least you had the experience and accomplished a goal you set. LPI certification is good and its very distro neutral and vendor agnostic. Though the LPI 1 is split into two tracks depending on package manager, rpm or apt. Which frustrated me, since I did not work with either, I ended up taking the rpm one since I was more familiar. Though still have to do something about LPI 2 and maybe LPI 3 one day. I did the LPI 1 for fun at Linux World one year, show discount etc. Nice thing about LPI it doesn't expire, or at least not to my knowledge. Other good ones are the industry standard RHCE, and RHCA. Not sure things like Linux+ come with much weight, can do that for fun if you like, others tend to be valued more. > I guess what Im trying to say is that just because somebody is classified as > a hobbiest, does not mean they have no interest in learning about the pro > stuff. So don't count us out on that either. I think its a given most hobbyists are interested in what the pros are up to. Question is are the pros interested in what hobbyist are up to. Ideally its a mix of both :) -- William L. Thomson Jr. Obsidian-Studios, Inc. http://www.obsidian-studios.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive http://marc.info/?l=jaxlug-list&r=1&w=2 RSS Feed http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml Unsubscribe [email protected]
